A New Beginning
by RainieLove16
Summary: Molly moved to the island of Castanet to get a fresh start from her old life, to escape the hardships of love, and the pain that dead memories bring. Only, instead of escaping what she thought was love, she finds out what it means to truly care for someone.
1. Chapter 1

"What is your name?" the old captain asked. His name was Pascal, and he smoked from a pipe.

"My name is Molly, sir," I said.

"Well, Molly, why did a nice young woman like yourself decide to move to a small island all by herself?" He asked. I didn't really want to answer a lot of questions, but I didn't want to be rude, so I thought about it. There were a few reasons, actually.

"Oh, well, I have always wanted to have my own farmstead, and this brochure," I held up the small Castanet Island brochure that said 'Fertile, Cheap Farmland!',"was the first thing I saw. Land back home is very expensive, so I jumped at this opportunity," I said.

"Well, I'm glad you found it, and I hope you like the island. It is very nice place to live. The people are very friendly and will welcome you warmly," he said with a smile.

After that he went back to the wheel of his ship and I went to my quarters. It was a small room with two beds, a reading chair, and a round window that faced the sea. _Being on a ship is... odd, _I thought, _but nice. _The gentle undulating motion it made was quite relaxing. _It shouldn't be long 'til we get there, _I thought yawning. _Let's take a nap..._

* * *

"Molly." *tap tap tap* "Molly, we made it. Gather your things and head on up!" Pascal shouted through the door as he walked away.

I did not want to leave my little bed. I was comfortable and warm. Though, I did not want to wait any longer to get to my new home, so I got my bag and ran up the stairs to the deck.

_Wow, _I stood speechless, _it's beautiful!_

The buildings were all the color of the sky and the sea, with a funky colored one here and there. There was a mountain range behind the skyline of the short buildings that possessed a crown of flat, white clouds at its peak. There looked to also be a church or something behind the town, too.

I looked down to start walking off the ship, but a group of people blocked my way.

"Welcome to Castanet!" They sang.

I didn't know what to do. I had never been greeted in such a fashion, even for a surprise birthday party!

"Thank you," was all I could say. I was surprised and flattered all at once, looking at the faces of these overjoyed people. _How strange, _I thought when a short, older man with crazy grey hair, and a taller, middle aged man with simple brown hair stepped forward.

"Hello, Molly, I'm Mayor Hamilton, and this is Cain," he said. "He will take you to your new home. Once you have settled in, please, come see me."

Then the other townspeople stepped forward.

"Molly, glad to meet you," he said, grabbing my hand in a gentle handshake, "I'm Perry, the Priest at the church. I'm always there if you need anything," he said with a gentle smile. He was dressed in black and had dark blue hair.

"I'm Irene," the older woman said, bowing to me. "I am the nurse at the clinic. The doctor will be gone for a while, so I will care for you, if you need it." She didn't smile and she was very matter-of-fact.

Then Shelly, the seamstress, Yolanda, the cook, and Chase, the cook's apprentice, introduced themselves to me. Everyone did, except a girl with long blue hair, who was behind everyone. She looked as though she wanted to, but was afraid. She was in a sweater and a long skirt. She looked hot. She glanced up at me, suddenly, and quickly back down. She fidgeted. I turned my attention back to the crowd.

"It's nice to meet all of you. Thank you for being so welcoming to me," I said. I didn't know what else to say so I just stood there looking at them. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea what they expected me to do, looking at me like that.

"Yes, now I think I should be taking her to the farm," Cain said, saving me from embarrassment. The townspeople nodded and began to leave. He took my bag and put it in a wooden wagon, and had me climb in the front with him. "I hope you realize that the house is going to need work." The wagon squeaked a little.

I nodded. "Yes, I don't know how much. I'm prepared to work, though," I said. _I wonder how much work he means... makes me worry a bit._

"That's good. You have a positive attitude..." He talked a lot more than I would have expected. In fact, by the time we got to my new home, my ear was practically bleeding from how badly he had chewed it off! He didn't just say nonsense, though, he gave me tips for animals, asked me questions, and offered other advice.

"Here ya are!" He exclaimed. "Hope it isn't too much work for you."

I felt disheartened. It need more work than I had anticipated. There was a hole in the roof, the coop and barn doors were off their hinges, there were building materials everywhere, like a freak storm blew through and sucked everything up and spit it out! _Look on the bright side, at least you have a home, _I thought.

I grabbed my bag and thanked Cain.

"If you ever need anything," he said, "just go on over to my ranch. It's in Flute Fields, just over that-away," he said pointing to a path opposite the one going to town, and he waved and was off.

I went inside the house to happily find that there was a queen-sized bed, a dusty bookcase, a small dresser, and a table already there! The inside was a lot nicer than the exterior of the house. I even had curtains.

I put my clothes in the dresser, and found a few pieces of clothing in it that I could wear. There was also a straw hat in the top drawer.

"Might have to wash those before I wear them," I thought out loud.

I looked around outside. It was very nice. There was a pond just to the right. I could see fish swimming, crawfish moving about, it was crystal clear. Behind the barn was what seemed to be a hot spring, but it didn't steam and it wasn't very warm. There was also a plot that already had trees and some plants growing on it, probably from seeds carried by the winds.

I looked around the barn, and, even though the outside was banged up, there were places already made for animals to lie down. There were feeding troughs, too. It wasn't so bad. The coop was in good shape on the inside, too.

_This is all mine, and it's not as bad as it looks. Thank the gods for all I have._

I looked at my watch, and it was almost six, and the sky was beginning to dim. It glowed orange on the horizon and faded into a dark pink on the opposite side of the sky. I had never seen such a beautiful sky. I stood there outside, in the middle of my land and just looked at it, and it must've pulled me into a trance because I stayed there, staring, until it was 7:30.

_I'm tired, _I thought. _Goodnight._


	2. Chapter 2

The villagers had given me their old tools. I found them in front of the house when I went outside the day after I arrived and there was a note tied to a water can. It read:

_Molly, it's not much, but we thought you might need these._

I couldn't believe it. _These people have shown me kindness, _I thought. _I should do something for the__m if I ever get the chance! _I couldn't stop smiling. I was very grateful.

_Might as well put them to good use_. So I did.

I started with the weeds and they were everywhere. They were overgrown and they grasped at my bare legs and scratched me. Their roots were so large and sturdy that I had to dig some of them out. The land was hard to plow through in certain spots, too. It seemed strange that flowers were growing there, but they weren't very strong, so I pulled them out and tilled them into the dirt. There were veggies growing there, too, but I left them alone. _Might need those..._

There was nothing I could do about the holes in the barn and coop roofs, so I worked on their doors.

Then the rest of the week I spent cleaning out the house. It was dusty, to say the least.

There were a few books on the book shelf, and the rest of it was filled with cobwebs and dead, half-digested flies. I wiped it all out onto the floor. _I have to sweep anyway, _I thought. I then moved onto to dust the table and chairs, the little nightstand, and the windows. The bedsheets and blanket were also very dusty, as well as the table cloth and curtains, so I took them outside and beat them against the house. I then rinsed them in the river and hung them on the line that hung on the front of the house.

When I finished with that, I moved back into the house. There was an old straw broom leaning against the kitchen counter, so I swept everywhere. I moved the bed, the table, the nightstand. I moved everything and swept all the dirt and dead bugs outside. There was a gentle breeze outside, too, so I opened the door and windows and let it flow through the old house, which seemed to give new life to it because it replaced the old, stale air with new, fresh air.

It was Friday, and I was done for the week. I worked hard fixing what I could, cleaning, and preparing the land for new plants, and I had torn most of my clothes doing all that. I caught my shirt on low tree branches, my pants on the barn door, and my socks had a hole on the big toe where I wore it down this week alone.

_I wonder if there is a clothing store here... There has to be. Shelly said she was a seamstress. I bet it's in town somewhere. _"I don't wanna goooo," I whined out loud. "I look horrible!" I really did. It was as if some great beast had attacked me and tried to take my clothes. They were torn and dirty. _**I** am__ torn and dirty!_

I didn't want to go, but I needed to. I couldn't keep wearing beat-up clothes. I had a little gold that I brought with me on my trip, so I went to town. I had to see the Mayor, anyway.

When Cain had brought me this way the first time, I didn't really pay attention to the surroundings. I was walking this time, though, so I looked at everything. There was a nice little path that led to the town from my farm, and berry bushes dotted the landscape. I picked a few and ate them. There was even a whole beach that I missed, too. An elevated path led down to it, where I saw shells and urchins laying about the golden sand.

I walked into town, across the bridge. The town hall was right there, so I went there first. . The mayor was sitting behind the desk, fiddling with papers or something. When I walked in a bell chimed, and he looked up at me. _His hair is still in that crazy do. I wonder how much time he spends on it? _I giggled to myself.

"Ah, Molly! I was wondering when you would drop by," he said smiling, looking me up and down. "Uh, are you ok?"

I looked down at myself. "Oh, yes! I've just been working. I came to town for new clothes, actually," I laughed.

"Oh, I thought you had been injured," he laughed with me. He asked how I was doing and if I'd settled in and what I had been up to. "Well, I asked you to see me because we need to talk about your house payment. You have paid all but the last 5000 gold. I am in no hurry to get it, I understand you are probably short gold right now. So whenever you have the gold, just come by and make your payment. I hope this is alright," he said.

_Shit. I forgot about that last payment. _"Of course! Thank you, Mayor. That is very kind of you," I said. He told me I was very welcome and told me to drop by whenever. I said goodbye and headed to the clothing shop.

It was a quaint little shop. _Sonata Tailoring, what a cute name. It's kinda weird how everything is music themed, though._

I walked in, but no bell chimed, instead something that sounded like a music box played. I looked around, but no one seemed to be there. I figured Shelly was in the back, so I looked at some of the outfits on display. There were several cute dresses on mannequins, shirts folded neatly on a shelf, and pants folded just as neatly as the shirts on the shelf below that. On another shelf, there were baskets of several different kinds of yarns, and behind the counter, yards of material were stacked against one another, waiting to be used.

_Maybe Shelly is out for the day, _I thought.

"Uh, um, hello?"

I turned to see a blue-haired girl. She halfway hid behind the wall that separated the shop and their kitchen, and fidgeted.

"Hi," I said. "Can you help me? I need some new clothes..." I said, feeling a little embarrassed, but I didn't know why.

"Y-yes, I can try to.. help you," she stammered. She must've been embarrassed or just really shy. "I'm Candace."

"Molly," I said. "Um, I need some durable pants and some shirts. Maybe a hat, too."

She didn't say anything, but she went straight to the clothes, so I followed her. She picked a few pairs of light blue pants, and several different short-sleeved shirts. She held them up to me, I assumed trying to see if they would look together, but she asked if I like them. I told her yes and she took them behind the counter, where she pulled out a straw hat, much like the one I found in the old dresser in my house. She gestured to me, as if asking if I liked it. I didn't really, but I didn't want to tell her no, so I said I'd take it. She rang everything up.

"200 gold," she said meekly.

My jaw nearly fell off! _Clothes are expensive here! __I need these though, _I gave in. I handed her the 200 hundred gold, and a few pieces fell out of her hand. I reached them as quickly as she had. I grabbed her hand, it was soft, delicate. She pulled away faster than light illuminates a dark room.

"I'm sorry!" we both said at the same time. I handed her the stray gold pieces, took my clothes, and left. I was embarrassed for embarrassing her. She was so shy, I felt like I had hurt her, even though I didn't really do anything.

_Candace,_ I thought. _Shy Candace... _The more I thought about her, the more I wondered why she was so timid. _Maybe it's simply because she doesn't know me. I mean, some people are just shy around strangers. Or maybe she was hurt before. I don't know. Shy Candace..._


End file.
